Answering The Big Questions
Reasons to Believe: 2. Answering the Big Questions Romans 1:18-25 (NLT) But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the…
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Winter Worship Residency
Infinitely More Infinitely More is honoured to join Queen Street Baptist Church for a Winter Worship Residency! Husband and wife duo, Allison Lynn and Gerald Flemming, strive to share the light and love of God through song. Infinitely More offers a fusion of folk, pop, hymns and worship that soothes the heart and ignites the…
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Window Dedication Service
What do these stones mean? As I was thinking about this dedication service this morning, and it’s significance in the life of our church, the passage of scripture that came to my mind was Joshua 3. This is where the people of Israel, after wandering in the desert for 40 years, are finally about to…
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Come to the Banquet
Communion Service January 1, 2023 This morning, on this first day of 2023, I thought we would do something a little different. Today we’re going to be sharing in the Lord’s Supper, as we always do on the 1st Sunday of the month. But instead of just tacking Communion on at the end of the…
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Recognizing God’s Voice
Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers But whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree…
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Descerning God’s Direction
Proverbs 16:1-9, 33 (NLT) We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer. People may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their motives. Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed. The LORD has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for…
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Can God Speak To Me Personally?
John 10:2-5 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and…
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New Peace
Philippians 4:1-21 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I…
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Growing Spiritually
Ephesians 4:14-16 Introduction Too often churches are short sighted as to what their goals are. Some have a focus on evangelism and that is good. But what they sometimes mean is that they want to just get people to a point of salvation. They want people to pray a certain prayer, get baptized and identify…
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Worshiping God in Jesus Christ
Romans 12:1-2 Introduction Few issues get Christians as worked up as their personal preferences when it comes to worship. There is a reason why people call it the worship wars. There is your side, there are the people who are worn, and there is a battle to be won. We often think of worship as…
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Sharing God’s Saving Love
Romans 10:14-15 Introduction If I asked you to at some point today approach a random stranger and share with them the gospel, how would you react? You might respond by saying that you are shy and don’t talk to strangers. Fine, go and share the gospel with a close friend or family member that you…
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Wearing Our Sunday Best
Colossians 3:12-17 Introduction There are are many ways we could look at the evolution of the western church over the past number of decades. It could be changes in attendance, it could be changes in architecture, it could be changes in technology, or it could be changes in music. Imagine using a time machine to…
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Christmas Eve and Beyond
As we look at the changing situation with the pandemic and as we consider the welfare of our congregation, the leadership has come to the following decision. We have decided that the Christmas Eve service for 2021 and the two following Sunday services: December 26 and January 2 will be online only. They should be…
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Surprised By Joy
Zephaniah 3:14-20 Introduction I remember in university the challenge of picking courses because certain courses had required prerequisites. You couldn’t just jump into a course, you had to look what courses you needed to have already have. The idea was that one course prepared the way for the other courses because one curriculum was built…
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Real Peace
Malachi 3:1-4 Introduction When we think of Christmas, one of the themes that often comes to mind is that of peace. If you think about a nativity scene, the calm animals, the reverent visitors, the serene parents and of course the sleeping baby, all of it looks so peaceful. And that is what we consider…
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Emerging Hope
Jeremiah 33:14-16 Introduction One of the most difficult things to hold onto, depending upon your circumstances, is hope. In fact, we may be afraid to even try to hope. I recently came across this statement in Psychology Today about the danger of hope: “The emotion of hope pertains to that which hasn’t yet transpired. So…
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Becoming Complete
Hebrews 13:20-21 Introduction One of the things that really bothers me is when something important is missing. This could be putting together a complex puzzle and after dedicating all that time, you get to the end and find that there are one or two pieces missing. I still enjoying making model airplanes and it is…
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Where Grace Leads
Romans 3:21-31 Introduction While many people celebrate Halloween on October 31, that day is significant for protestant Christians for another reason. It was October 31 in 1517, that a monk named Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, in modern Germany. Although Luther was a Roman Catholic, he…
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Pray in This Way
Matthew 6:5-15 Introduction There is one passage of Scripture that I have heard more than any other and it is not even close. It is not the 23rd Psalm and it is not the Ten Commandments. The one passage that I have heard more than any other is the Lord’s Prayer. Not only did the…
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The Ways to Jesus
Acts 16:11-40 Introduction How does one become a Christian? That seems to be a fairly reasonable question. If we claim to be Christians, then we better know how one becomes a Christian. I don’t think that I’m straying into heresy by saying the way to Christianity is through Jesus. There are those who believe there…
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Where is the Spirit Calling Us?
Acts 16:6-10 Introduction How many of you like to go on long car rides? This can be especially nice at this time of the year when the leaves are changing and before the snow comes and everyone forgets how to drive. There are a couple of ways you can choose to do one of these…
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Full Dedication
Acts 16:1-5 Introduction How committed are you to the Church? I don’t mean specifically Queen Street Baptist Church, although there is overlap with what I’m talking about. I mean more specifically, how committed are you to being the Church? When I have talked to Christians of older generations about commitment, the response was usually somethings…
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Messy Relationships
Acts 15:36-41 Introduction I want you do something. Without look around the room, I want you to think back. Is there any person who is a part of this church that has disappointed you? Is there anyone who said or did something that really bothered you? Has there ever been a time when you saw…
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Churches and Vaccines Passports
As you may know, there is a requirement in Ontario for people to present proof of double vaccination to enter into public places. Some people have asked how that affects churches and specifically Queen Street Baptist Church. Churches are currently exempt from the vaccine passports and so we will not be requiring proof of vaccination…
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The Acts of the Holy Spirit
Acts 15:22-35 Introduction When you are reading a story, one of the important steps for understanding is identifying the major characters. This is true whether you are reading William Shakespeare or reading a Superman comic book. It is also true when reading history. I have an interest in reading both ancient history and the history…
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Agreeing When We Disagree
Acts 15:1-21 Introduction When you think of the different events put on by the church, what is your favourite? Is it the worship service? Bible studies and prayer meetings? Potlucks and other meals? Where do business meetings fit into the ranking? When I was just starting in ministry, I was warned about how bad church…
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What Should You Expect?
Acts 14:8-20 Introduction Most likely, you have expectations for any situation you are facing. You may not know all the details and your expectations may be wrong, but you do have expectations. At a previous church, one where I was expected to wear a suit and tie to each service, I snuck out during a…
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A Jesus Like Us
Hebrews 2:10-18 Introduction A few weeks ago, I reminded you of the way that God chose to communicate with us. God didn’t just send another teacher or prophet, God sent his Son. Not a half-god but the exact reflection of God’s glory. In some mysterious way, when God was sending his Son, he was sending…
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The Greatness of Christ
Hebrews 1:1-4 Introduction Why are you here? Seriously, what are you doing here? More specifically, for those who identify as Christians, why do you bother? Why would you want to be a Christian? Why would you want to follow Christ? Those might seem like strange questions but they are important. For many people, the answers…
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Why Are There So Many Denominations?
Does it bother you that there are so many different denominations? If Christianity is true, shouldn’t there be just one kind of church? How can we know if we are in the one “true” denomination? I was once pastoring in a small town of about 5000 people. In that town, we had about a dozen…
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The Ups and Downs of Sharing Faith
Acts 13:44-52 Introduction It was approximately thirty years ago. I had just come out of a period of atheism while a student at Brock University. I had come to believe in a God but I had no idea what religion I should follow. Christianity seemed too obvious, being the most common religion in Canada and…
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Outdoor Service 2021
This has been a hard couple of years as many of the regular events that we enjoy have not been able to run. One of those was our annual outdoor service (Praise in the Park) that we would have in Montebello Park. We had to cancel it in 2020 and we won’t be having it…
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Learning From History
Acts 13:13-43 Introduction One of my favourite things is studying history. In another life, I could have seen myself as a history teacher rather than a pastor. I like history because it is interesting and often entertaining. But I love history because it is relevant to today. Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the…
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How Do We Interpret the Bible?
How exactly do we interpret the Bible? Some might say that we simply read a verse and then do what it says. Nothing more is needed. Let’s see how that works in practice. Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself,…
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Why Are There Different Interpretations of the Bible?
If the Bible is inspired by God, why are there so many different interpretations of what it says? If the Bible is really from God, shouldn’t we all agree about its meaning? Devout and intelligent Christians disagree about: Human origins and the age of the earth. What the end of the world will look like.…
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Called By God
Acts 13:1-12 Introduction A few months ago, it was the twenty years ago that I was ordained. It was at Queensway Baptist Church in Brantford, and it took place on mystery last Sunday there before starting at a new church. It was a meaningful service but it really was one step in a long process…
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Moving Forward
Our congregation has now returned to in-person services in our church building. Many people are excited about being back, while others are understandably cautious to return. What might be on some people’s minds is: “I can’t wait to get back to normal.” While I understand that sentiment, and agree to a certain extent, we need…
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One God
Acts 12:20-25 Introduction I’m going to give you a little bit of insight on how I go about picking passages to preach on. I enjoy preaching a series, preferably on a book of the Bible. I like this because it forces me to get outside my own area of interests and to be challenged by…
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When Life is Not Fair
Acts 12:1-19 Introduction It does not take us long before we discover that life is not fair. Children at a young age complain that things are not fair. They sense a disconnect when someone gets something good that they didn’t get or if they get punished and someone else doesn’t. It just isn’t fair! As…
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